Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/90134
FROM THE EDITOR Are we stronger together? f you've noticed an enthusiasm uptick among some of your coffee cohorts, it may mean they're part of the crowd that recently returned from Medellin, Colombia, site of Sustainable Harvest's 10th Let's Talk Coffee. Each year the Portland-based importing company holds the event in a different producing country, where growers, roasters, importers and others throughout coffee's seed-to- cup chain join together for a long weekend of discussion and dialing in. It was an enlightening experience for me in many ways (documented in the feature "Colombia Connectivity," p. 36), and I imagine most of the 450-plus folks who were part of the conference feel a renewed connection to the depth and complexity of coffee. One element of Let's Talk Coffee that has always interested me is the collaborative spirit. While the event's chief aim may be connecting Sustainable Harvest's roaster clients with its partner growers—in other words facilitating business relation- ships—Let's Talk Coffee has never been simply a bottom-line- driven venture. David Griswold, Sustainable Harvest's founder, often lets his curiosity steer the curriculum at Let's Talk Coffee. If he comes across something he thinks would make for a rel- evant, eye-opening presentation to the supply-chain-spanning crowd, he'll pursue it. This year, for instance, specialty cof- fee blog Sprudge presented a talk-show-like panel featuring interviews with a series of high-end specialty coffee retailers who seemingly shared little with the high-volume roasters that constitute the bulk of the business Sustainable does. This all seems to follow a sentiment common in the spe- cialty coffee industry: There's room enough for everyone, and we can function together whether or not we share a business relationship. And the fact we all hope to raise the profile of specialty beverages means we're tacitly connected whether or not we formally join hands. The notion of collaboration is multifaceted, of course, and it runs through this issue. In "Roasters Realm" (p. 54), Marcus Young points out all the ways working together boosts smaller and mid-sized operations. An interesting counterpoint to the collaborative sentiment can be found in an article in "Off the Wire" (p. 24) about Baristas Coffee Company. The Washington- based chain recently trademarked the word "baristas" and has threatened legal action against the competition. While Baristas' CEO Barry Henthorn is quick to clarify that the company only plans to target direct threats, it's still an instance of drawing lines in the sand and protecting what is yours as a company. The issue of size plays a large part here: Baristas' legal move comes as it's expanding its reach, with shops in five states and locations in four others in the works. We are quick to laud and promote partnerships, but as companies grow, will they run into difficulties playing nice? Let's Talk Coffee shows that some level of togetherness has to persist in coffee, even for roasters big enough to burn through entire containers every week. More than most indus- tries, we're tied to those who produce our beloved products in the first place, and if we wholesale, we're dependent on those who serve it to the customer. Rarely can one hand control it all. If that fact alone doesn't renew your enthusiasm, nothing will. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fresh Cup welcomes letters to the editor at comments@freshcup.com. Letters must be 250 words or less. Authors must provide verifiable phone number and city and state of residence. 12 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com